Bear cub freed from Phoenicia trash bin after some tense moments

PHOENICIA, N.Y. -- What a bear cub likely thought was going to be an evening of fine dining at the Phoenicia Methodist Church turned into a night of terror after someone shut the lid on the festivities.

Literally.

On Saturday, Shandaken Police received a 911 call about a bear whose head was stuck in the doorway of a metal "Bear-i-cade" trash bin behind the Church on Church Street.

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Apparently, the yearling bear was inside the bin when someone came by, threw some trash in, and closed the bear-proof top.

Officer George Neher arrived on the scene to find several onlookers watching helplessly as the yearling cub tried to get free.

Also observing the incident were a mother bear and another cub, both of which Neher said were prowling the area and becoming increasingly agitated as time wore on.

"This situation could have been much worse," said Neher, who immediately cleared the scene of the onlookers. "Mother bears are very protective of their offspring. They have been known to be extremely aggressive when they feel their babies are threatened."

Faced with the task of freeing the cub and simultaneously warding off the mother, Neher sought backup, but was told he was on his own.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation, which normally handles bear situations, had no available officers. Asking for help from any other available units, Neher was informed that the closest police presence was a New York City Department of Environmental Protection patrol car, but it was more than 40 minutes away.

But, as luck would have it, an on-duty member of the town's ambulance squad happened by the scene. With matters getting worse by the minute, Neher and paramedic Mark Bedell decided to act.

While Neher used his patrol car to scare off the mother, Bedell went to the trash bin and unlatched the lid by hand.

"This allowed the cub to escape and to be reunited with its mother and sibling," Neher said.

On Tuesday, church officials said they hope that word of the incident gets out and prevents further problems. They say that, because people in the community are aware of the bear-proof bin, people often come by at night and throw trash into it. On that particular night, someone had thrown the remains of a shrimp barbeque and some empty dog food cans into the dumpster, both prime attractions for hungry bears.